Project Mercury

Project Mercury is the name that has been given to the initial United States
man-into-space program. The capsule designed to carry our first astronaut into
space is conical in shape and barely large enough to accom­modate one man, one
of the seven astronauts who have been selected and trained for flight into space.

The capsule weighs about one ton and is 9½ feet high and 6½ feet in diameter.
It is equipped with controls to keep it stable and to regulate its position so
that the blunt nose end faces forward.

When the astronaut has completed his orbital trip, small rockets in the blunt
end of the capsule will be fired to slow down his speed. As speed decreases the
capsule will lose altitude and be pulled toward the earth by gravity.

To protect the capsule from burning up when it re-enters the earth's atmosphere,
its nose end is equipped with a fiber-glass shield that vapor­izes under the intense
heat caused by the friction of the air.

When the capsule's speed has been slowed to a cer­tain point, parachutes will
open automatically to help ease its descent to the earth.

Jupiter Rocket



The Jupiter, a surface-to-surface weapon, was the first American intermediate-range
ballistic missile to be launched successfully. The missile was developed by the Army,
but was later turned over to the Air Force for operation in the field.

This rocket can carry either a nuclear or high-explo­sive warhead to a distance
of from 1200 to 1500 miles. It travels at a speed of 10,000 miles per hour.
The missile is 58 feet long and 83/4 feet in diameter. It is made of aluminum
and weighs 105,000 pounds ready to launch. The single rocket engine provides a
thrust of 150,000 pounds.

The Jupiter has done valuable service in the field of space exploration. It
helped to launch the Pioneer IV, which is now in orbit around the sun, and the
Explorer VII earth satellite, and also carried the two monkeys Able and Baker on
their flight into space.

How a rocket works

Most rockets have very few external parts, though internally some of them are
extremely complicated. The body which encases the inner parts of a rocket is
known as the air frame. This houses the combustion chamber, the fuel tanks, the
devices by which the rocket is guided, and the nose cone.

The nose cone, which is located at the upper tip of the rocket, is where the warhead
or payload is carried. At the lower end of the rocket are the exhaust noz­zles
through which the propelling jets of gases escape.

Rockets vary in shape and size, no two being alike. Some are tall and slim; others
are short and stubby. Some have wings and fins and resemble jet fighter planes,
while others look like enormous bullets.

The Titan is a United States Air Force surface-to-surface intercontinental
ballistic missile. This two-stage rocket is launched by a 300,000-pound-thrust
engine which separates and falls away when burned out. A second engine, with a
thrust of 80,000 pounds, then drives the rocket into space at a speed of 17,000
miles per hour. Both engines are liquid-fueled.
The Titan, which is made of aluminum, is larger than the Atlas, but is lighter,
weighing 220,000 pounds. Its length is 98 feet and it has a diameter of 10 feet.
The first flight of the Titan was made on February 6, 1959.

Some Early Russian Rockets

The USSR CH-IO is a giant three-stage missile weigh­ing 350,000 pounds. Few other
details are known about the rocket except that it is over 100 feet long and is
131/2 feet in diameter.

The CH-10 is believed to be the rocket the Russians used to launch the payload
that hit the moon on Sep­tember 13, 1959. The last stage of the CH-10 is also
reported to have crashed into the moon.

The T-2 is a USSR intermediate-range ballistic missile in service with the
Russian army. It can carry a nuclear warhead between 1300 and 1500 miles.

This two-stage rocket is powered by liquid-fueled engines, the first (or booster)
stage producing a thrust of 80,000 pounds. Its maximum length is about 100 feet
and it weighs 120,000 pounds. Speed is 5,000 miles per hour.

The T-2 missile is comparable to our Jupiter and Thor.